So you've written your masterpiece. You slaved over it for months, even years, and it holds a piece of your soul. You may not have the Great American Novel, true, but you know you have something special and you're ready to share it with the world. What now?
There are many options available to a first-time author, and on the rise is the notion of self-publishing. While it is true that a chosen few are still selected to be published by a traditional publishing house, this honor is usually reserved for those who have already made a name for themselves, and almost always those whose name is already known to the firm. Unsolicited manuscripts are, with very few exceptions, tossed in the bin, sight unseen. If you don't have a literary agent to present your book to the publishers (they know the ropes better than you), your best option is to self-publish.
Now there is the questions of "how" and "where" to self-publish. These can be tricky waters to navigate, because everybody and their brother claims to be able to publish your work...for a price. Some places will publish your work with a whole suite of features, from advertising to cover design to editing, and they are great options! (If you have the money, of course.)
If you're like me, though, you don't have deep pockets to begin with, and you may be feeling a little unsure about your first child--er, book. (Don't worry, we all feel that way, especially about our first.) There are free self-publishing options out there, you just have to do a little more of the legwork yourself. Don't let this scare you, it's not too difficult once you get in the swing of things.
Lulu is an excellent option, where you can publish your book, whether it's a novel, a picture book, or even a calendar with your original photography or artwork. They also offer a wide array of services for your book once it's ready, to help you advertise and get you started, such as e-book format, promo materials, and even an author's website on their servers. If you choose to "go it alone", you can simply use their publishing and printing services, where they will print your manuscript "on demand" for copies ordered by your customers, and ship them out for you.
KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is Amazon's in-house publishing firm. It recently acquired CreateSpace, so if you're familiar with them, you'll already know the ropes here. KDP works directly with Amazon as its retail service, so your book is automatically published to Amazon as a paperback, and Kindle for e-reading. Their system is very basic, but if all you want to do is get your work out there, it's a simple and non-invasive way to go about it. You can track your sales and e-pages read through their system, so you know how much attention your book is getting, and they offer (paid) promotions on the Amazon platform, including flash sales, click promotions, and others to suit your needs.
There are others out there, but these two are the ones I've had personal experiences with, and good experiences at that. Both of my books are currently through KDP, and I am strongly considering Lulu for my third, because of what they offer in the way of services.
Now, it is important to note that if you are going to self-publish, you are going to have to do a lot of the work yourself. This includes making yourself known to the public. I suggest posting clips of your work (snippets of your writing, essays, poetry, artwork, etc) on a free platform somewhere for starters. A blogging platform would be an excellent place to begin, and there are literally tons of those available, for free, all over the 'net. Be wary of Terms of Service, wherever you go. Some sites do not allow certain content, and you don't want to start your journey by being blacklisted somewhere.
Then, once you have a portfolio online, start reaching out. Create a Facebook page so your fans can reach out to you, and do the same on Twitter and/or Instagram. Reach out to other authors on social media. There is a thriving community of self-publishing writers out there, and we all love to welcome new faces! I find that most of my interactions with other authors is on Twitter, while most of my interactions with my fan-base is on Facebook. Learn all you can from other writers, take part in online and free workshops to hone your craft, and never. stop. writing.
What we do isn't a job, it isn't even really a career. It is our passion, our life's blood. Many of us have been writing for as long as we can remember, always with a story or two tumbling around in our heads, just waiting to be written down. Don't let the successes of others deter you; their path isn't yours. Your story, whatever it may be, deserves to be told. You just have to get it out there.